


An Awful Legacy

by SassySnowperson



Series: Rise of Skywalker Ficlets [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Mentions of sex work, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21982447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassySnowperson/pseuds/SassySnowperson
Summary: Some truths are almost impossible to share.
Relationships: Rey's Father/Rey's Mother (Star Wars)
Series: Rise of Skywalker Ficlets [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582255
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	An Awful Legacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mosylu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosylu/gifts).



> Written as a series of ficlets for TRoS [on Tumblr.](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sassysnowperson)
> 
> The prompt:  
>  _oh!!!! For your TROS prompts: I have so many thoughts and honestly may write some of these myself anyway BUT - Rey's parents, maybe ReyMama's reaction to the news that her love is the prince of the galaxy basically_.

Matthel was nervous. Linea could see it in every inch of his movement. The jerky way he poured the tea a little too quickly, the quick way he folded his napkin into a neat triangle. 

Linea wondered if this finally meant he was going to get back to her on her proposal. She'd been spending every minute she was on Nal Hutta with him for the last three years (too few, but that was how the smuggling business was), after all. That she was interested in something more committed couldn't be _that_ much of a surprise, now could it? 

Matthel, her fussy little shipyard supervisor, a neat man with a neat life that had managed to catch her attention anyway. She wondered if it was precisely because he was, well, a little boring. Boring was hard to come by on Nal Hutta. Ironically, it stood out. 

"Linea," he said, deliberately, slowly. "I…" He stopped, blinked, then reached over and flicked on the sound dampener built into the table. 

Linea raised an eyebrow. "I figured we'd at least get through dinner before we did anything that warranted a sound dampener."

Matthel flushed, as she'd known he would, and maybe it was a good thing he had turned it on after all, as the desire to taste his reddened throat was nearly irresistible. She leaned forward, and she must have looked predatory, because Matthel quickly raise his hands defensively. "I need to tell you something," he said in a rush. 

Linea settled back down with a wink and a pout, gesturing for him to continue. 

Looking rather like he was about to face his own execution, Matthel said slowly, "I—before we get any more…serious. Like you, um…" Matthel turned his eyes toward the ceiling and took a fortifying breath. When he looked back at her, there was a serious glint in his normally-gentle eyes. "There's something you need to know. About my family." 

"Oh!" Linea laughed, feeling her spine unbend as she relaxed. Matthel's nervousness had gotten to her more than she had realized. "I know." 

Matthel blinked at her. "I assure you, you do not." 

"The Scarlet Queen?" Linea smiled before continuing, "Independent pirate that ran a crew on a reign of terror through half of Hutt Space before she retired? Also known as your mother? She and I have talked about this before. I've known you were royalty for a while, beloved."

Matthel groaned at this, and buried his head in his hands. "You have no idea," he muttered. 

Linea sat up stiffly, starting to feel offended. "If this is about some sort of issue with criminal behavior I think you're living on rather the wrong planet." 

Matthel dropped his hands, and gave her a blank look. "I'm also dating rather the wrong person. No…just, listen. Before Mum was a pirate she…" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I should have made her tell you this. You see, in order to survive, before she—"

Linea decided to put him out of his misery. "I am well aware what women do in order to survive. You can't imagine I'd judge her for it?" 

"No," Matthel said quickly. "But she, um, worked in the Imperial Center." 

"Hm, yeah, I can see how that would be unpleasant. For her. I really don't see why I need to know, though." Linea reached over, taking his hands. They shook in her grip. "This is between you and me, not you and your past." 

"She was an Imperial concubine!" Matthel blurted, the words coming out all tangled up in each other. His fingers tightened around hers. "She got pregnant, and she knew what happened to potential heirs, so she faked her own death and…" 

"Potential...heirs…" Linea said slowly. 

Matthel gave a short bow. In a more ironic tone than she had ever heard him use before, he announced. "Matthel Palpatine, in the flesh. Mum thought for ages he was going to find me and kill me. It's why she ran a pirate crew. Of course now that Dear Old Dad is dead, the issue is more what the New Republic might do in the interest of permanently stamping out his line." 

"Stars…" Linea breathed slowly. 

"You can see why I use Mum's last name." Matthel sighed, and on the exhale, that strange irony left him, and in its place was her boring, solid Matthel, once again. "I really would like to marry you. But…well, it's an awful legacy. And I felt like you should know." 

Linea swallowed before reaching forward and deliberately taking his hands again. "Come now, I'm not going to let a little bit of family drama chase me off. I'm made of sterner stuff than that. Like I said, this is between you and me, and nobody else."

Matthel gave her a smile so warm she remembered all over again why she kept coming back here. Where else would she be this known and this loved? He had always done that for her. The least she could do was the same for him. 

"Well, Linea," Matthel said softly, bringing their joined hands up to his mouth. He laid a soft kiss along the backs of her knuckles, before saying, "In that case, your answer is yes."

**Author's Note:**

> The fun thing about this universe is that Rey's Pirate Queen grandmother could definitely still be alive - and it's possible they could still meet. That's a happy thought for me :D


End file.
